Farming in the sea: Seaweed production becomes promising livelihood

By Noel T. Provido
For Julito Toto, his farm is made up of several lines of ropes floating against the strong current of deep sea water in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Growing up in a coastal village, fishing is his way of life but when fish catch in the locality gradually declined he turned to seaweed farming.
Seaweed farming in their area started in the 1980s and since then he observed that seaweed planters sustained their production.
«I observed that they are earning so I tried it myself and discovered that within short span of time I could start harvesting,» he said.
With the meager income from fishing he however could not expand seaweed production as lack of financing constrained him. 
His break came when his association, the Bato Seaweeds Association (Baseas), availed itself of a funding assistance from the Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP) to boost their seaweed farming and processing project.
“Before we have to spend our money out of our meager income from fishing to buy materials and inputs for replanting. With MRDP’s assistance our association can now provide us initial capital for seaweed replanting,” said Baseas member Julito Toto.
«The provision of banca is also a big help as I can now regularly monitor my seaweed farm and check if they are not washed out by strong winds and waves,” he said.
Toto is now tending 20 seaweed lines (at 8 meters per line), which could yield at least 300 kilos for only 25 days from planting.  
«Maintaining 20 lines could be laborious. To catch up with the production, I›m hiring three laborers and pay them P200 a day to help me in seaweed re-planting,» he said adding he is glad to also help others earn out of his seaweed farm.
Toto is just one of the 67 Baseas members who benefitted from the P6.2 million funding assistance their association has received from MRDP. Of the total amount, the provincial government of Davao del Sur shell out P1 million as its counterpart fund while Baseas raised P1.2 million as its corresponding equity.
The bulk of the fund was used to establish a five-hectare communal seaweed plantation along the town›s municipal waters. A drying facility and warehouse was also constructed to improve quality of their products while a vehicle was also purchased to facilitate marketing.
Sta. Cruz Mayor Joel Ray Lopez said the local government has issued a resolution authorizing the Baseas to utilize the area for seaweed production, as it will boost the town’s bid as the leading seaweed producer in Davao region.
«The livelihood project is promising as it is a complete package of assistance from production inputs to postharvest and marketing,» Lopez said.
Baseas president Victor Relator is optimistic that with the establishment of five-hectare seaweed plantation plus the individual expansion of their members they can now meet higher volume requirements from traders.
«Earlier, a trader from Cebu has placed order for dried seaweed but did not materialize as we cannot meet the huge volume requirements.  We hope that with our expansion we can open new markets for our products,» Relator said.
He said warehouse and drying facility is a big help in improving the income of small fishers as dried seaweed is sold at least P30 a kilo while fresh seaweeds is only sold at P7 per kilo. Seven kilos of fresh seaweeds can produce a kilo of dried product.
Seaweed for industrial uses should be dried immediately after harvesting should be kept clean. Relator observed that seaweeds dried in bamboo flooring have better quality as it not susceptible to impurities. It also hastens the drying period due to better air ventilation.
After 3 to 5 days of sun drying, bundles of fresh seaweed in transparent plastic substrates or extracts are produced. The association utilized this as organic foliar fertilizer and insecticide, a value-adding product made out of the dried seaweed extract, and sells it at P1,000 per container.
Aside from producing seaweeds for processing other members area also growing the salad type of Nile green variety, which is highly in demand in the local market including the neighboring cities of Digos and Davao.
«The salad type seaweeds are price from P15 a kilo to as high as P35 a kilo. My wife along with other women in our village are also processing this seaweed into snack food which can be stored up to one month,” Toto said.
Miguela Edquilla, MRDP regional deputy coordinator in DA Davao region said the association seaweed project has a huge potential to expand not only in production but also in processing.
She said Baseas has a big chance to be part of the upcoming Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) as seaweeds is one of the identified national priority commodities of the program.
An upscale version of MRDP, the PRDP will be a six-year national government platform for an inclusive, value-chain oriented and climate change resilient agriculture and fisheries. 
While seaweed farming is becoming more promising, Toto said it has also its own set of challenges, as farming in deep sea is vulnerable to various elements. But these are not enough reason for him to give up seaweed farming.
«Strong winds and big waves can easily break and wipe out strung seaweeds. But this can be overcome by immediately replacing the empty lines and visiting the floating farm between 5 to 6 am where the tides are low,» he said, adding that hard work sustains farming in the sea.
Toto said his income from seaweeds enable his family to experience substantial improvement like meeting their daily needs and sending their children to school.
«I still like to go on fishing but more as an alternative livelihood seaweed farming is now my full time job,» he said.